Service jobs are no easy feat these days. Waiters bust their butts night and day, serving customers (who are sometimes nice and sometimes not-so-nice), and making sacrifices… Only to not make that much money. A lot of jobs are dependent on tips, so when this mother made only about nine bucks after working 70 hours, she had no choice but to take it to the Internet to raise awareness.
The mother showed bravery and decided to post a video of the check to her TikTok.
“So this is why you should always tip your bartenders/servers… Anyone who waits on you or provides a service for you,” she says in the clip. “This is my hourly for two weeks. I worked almost 71 hours, I get paid $2.13 an hour as a bartender and a server. I should have made $150.81 but because I have to have social security, medicare and the income tax taken out, I was paid $9.21 for 70 hours of work.”
“Of course, I got tips but this is what I got for my hourly. This is why you should always tip,” she assures viewers at the end.
This mom has a child to support, so she is fighting an industry that is so tough on their workers.
“It’s tough being a working mom for me right now just because I’m going through a custody battle. I would love to spend time with my son, but I have to make a living so we can have a good life once the custody battle comes to an end,” the mother told Bored Panda.
Aaliyah Cortez is not afraid to be honest about her current situation, which is part of the reason why she can’t afford to work so many hours for so little money.
“Honestly, every time I open a check I just chuckle a little bit. My coworkers and I will compare checks to see who got the least amount and we’ll just laugh because it’s ridiculous how little we get paid,” she said.
“I would just like to add that I love my job and I’m fortunate enough to make enough to get by, but it’s tough to think that if an emergency comes up it could really hurt me financially. I just wish we all had stable and consistent paychecks.”
She continues, “It’s important to tip because we literally rely solely on those tips. We’ll be greatly appreciative and it’s just nice to be compassionate and understanding that this is just how laws are set up, and if you’re going to restaurants that do abide by these laws, you are feeding into the broken system. We don’t like relying on the customer but until the laws can get changed, we still need to be paid.”
So, moral of the story? Don’t forget to tip your servers, bartenders, and baristas! You never know what the pay situation is like for them… And chances are, it’s probably not ideal.
Thanks to Aaliyah, this will hopefully raise awareness and people will be a little more empathetic when they go out to eat or drink.
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https://www.tiktok.com/@f.aa.ded/video/6787098794724003078
